Miracle mum-to-be

THE forthcoming birth of Tegan Prentice's miracle baby has brought many people into Tegan's life.

Tegan has had chronic myeloid leukaemia since she was 13, and now the 23-year-old is preparing for the birth of her first child, Joey, on June 18.

"I had to go off medication (to protect the child) so it's been scary, I have to monitor it (her leukaemia) every couple of weeks, make sure it's all okay," she said.

Tegan said she and her fiance had had "a bit of a rough trot" with her illness and were struggling to make ends meet.

"My partner had to leave his job so he could be here and take care of me," she said.

"Times have been tough financially, all I did was on Facebook I posted that I was looking for some work, odd jobs from home.

"From there it snowballed. A whole bunch of girls on there found my story and within a couple of days, I had hundreds of messages of support wanting to donate things."

Kind strangers donated all they could to help the new mum, but it was when the site's administrator, Cat Smith, suggested a baby shower for Tegan that the generosity truly showed.

"I don't have a lot of friends, so it's definitely not something I had planned," she said.

"I've been in tears over it so many times, it's overwhelming, people's generosity. I've been through such dark times thinking there was no one out there, not knowing how hard it was. There's been an outpouring of support from people who don't know me."

Katrina Hunter saw Tegan's post on Facebook and immediately started trawling her cupboards looking for goods to donate.

But she knew there was more to be done and volunteered to throw Tegan's baby shower tomorrow.

Katrina said she related to Tegan's plight for help, after her family lost most of its possessions in a shed fire at her Golden Beach home last year.

"Everyone's pain is the same. No better, no worse, and even though we are still a long way away from recovering from the fire, emotionally and financially, when I read Tegan's story I knew that I could find a way to help her in some way. I found that way and I'm doing it," she said.